Margarita Popsicles

I’ve never been much of a frozen drink girl but I think I’ve been missing out. It’s seventh-circle-of-hell hot outside. We’ve been enjoying lots of frozen cantaloupe and pineapple margaritas recently but we decided to take it one step further: Margarita Popsicles.

They couldn’t be easier! I whipped up a modified batch of our house margarita, poured them into small cups, and then stuck them in the freezer. Simple as that. I wasn’t actually sure that they would freeze but I was pleasantly surprised. The alcohol prevents them from freezing into a solid lime ice cube but they were still solid enough to hold their shape and eat them off the stick.

I couldn’t find “real” popsicle molds that I liked so I used the “throw away” method that I saw Matt Armendariz use in his new cookbook, On a Stick: 3 oz disposable paper cups and wooden ice cream spoons that I found in the Kids’ Crafts section of Michael’s. The little cups keep the popsicles small enough so you don’t end up with a melty mess and the wooden spoons were the perfect length so I didn’t have to cut down full-length popsicle sticks.

Margarita Popsicles

Margarita popsicles - taking the frozen margarita one step further.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (8-12 small limes, usually)

1/4 cup silver tequila

1/4 cup orange liqueur

12 3 oz disposable paper cups

12 wooden popsicle sticks or spoons

Instructions

Heat water and sugar in a small sauce pan until completely dissolved and the water is clear. Let cool.

Pour into a pitcher with lime juice, tequila, and orange liqueur.

Pour 2 1/2 ounces (5 Tbsp) of margarita into each cup.

Place cups into a baking dish and put the dish in the freezer.

After about 2 hours, start checking the popsicles. Once they're frozen enough to support the wooden stick, insert a stick into each popsicle, pushing 3/4 of the way into the popsicle.

Let freeze several more hours or until completely frozen (I let them freeze overnight)

To serve, peel the paper cup away from the popsicle, starting at the seam of the cup, and carefully remove the bottom.

I JUST did this yesterday! Except with lemonade – and I filled them half with lemonade and froze them, and then dropped in diced peaches and more lemonade and froze the rest. If you clamp your popsicle stick with a clothespin (so that the two are perpendicular), you can rest the clothespin across the rim of the cup so that the popsicle stick dangles down in the center of the cup!

I’ve been enjoying many popsicles lately and also heard of using little cups and wooden sticks/spoons. Unfortunately, my freezer sucks and is missing some shelves (oh, the joys of buying foreclosures) so I have to use little attached molds. Hoping to clear out some space soon so I can use cups, as well! These look absolutely fantastic!

I cut the alcohol in half just to make sure they would freeze in my old freezer (it has issues sometimes). It worked great! I couldn’t find the cute little sticks like you did so I used regular popsicle sticks instead. Thanks for a great recipe!